Nostalgia
by crynuh
Summary: Aki,Summer,CHi and Rhye accidentally went back in time through a mysterious mirror that they found in the attic of the Manor..Clueless of what had happened to them, they found theirselves stuck with the Sanzoikkou. READ anD REVIEW PLEASE!
1. Chapter 1: The Mirror

Chapter I: The Mirror

by blindangel10

_Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki, I only own the other characters._

_(A/N) This story is just a repost. I decided to repost it, that's why.._

_The name's Aki Genjo, a 19 year-old student at the Fre'da Manor, the most prominent institute in the town of Ryda. I started studying black magic when I was 17. I have a long, straight midnight blue locks that reaches to my waist, and the amethyst of my eyes sparkled best under the dazzling sun. My mother, Aya Genjo, died of leukemia when I was only 9 years old, since then, I was left in the care of my father, Shin Genjo. I've been living in the Manor for 2 years already, but I come home with my sister every once in a while to visit him. _

_I began this journey hoping to find someone to take away my pain…but somehow I know that may never happen…I would cry every night because I was too afraid to sleep. I tried to compel to myself that everything's fine and i need not to cry. Everything was fatefully painful for me. _

Everything was blurry as i was making my way to my room, I struggled to balance my books to keep them from scattering all over the floor.

"Shit! It's almost 5:30 pm! Why does he have to babble about the same damn things over and over! We went overtime again." I said to myself as I crossed the grass lawn that stretched for several meters.

As soon as I reached my room, I threw my books on to my bed and looked down at my wristwatch, "Great! 15 before 6."

I remembered I have to meet a few friends this evening, so once again, I rushed back through the broad corridors of the institute, down the long winding stairs, through the outskirts, through the lawn, and finally out the front gate. I slowed down for a while to catch my breath as I walked through the road. "_It's funny how the sky perfectly blends with the hues and shades of my loneliness_." I thought, looking up to the everlasting skies, _"No one was really there for me...Not even my dad..He was only there for her..." _I sarcastically smiled but quickly shook the thought off, _"_Too much drama..."

I walked past the little tree house beside the river, that used to be the place where we always play until dark, and also our meeting place. I looked around but I couldn't find them. I went to take a short walk in the woods when suddenly a guy bumped into me.

"Itai!! That hurts!" he whined as he caressed his sore forehead.

"Watch where you're going..." I said coldly, I think almost emotionless.

"But it really hurts, you know!!!" he wailed even harder, he wailed so hard as if I wasn't hurt..

_He was about 18, I think. He's a little shorter than me, he has brown hair and golden eyes. There was this gold circlet that rests on his head, whatever it may be. There was this strange feeling inside me that tells me that I know this guy. But...I don't. _

"Aki-san!!" he called. "Aki-san, is that really you? It's been a long time since I last saw you...I missed you!" he continued excitedly, it doesn't even look like he's making it up, he even embraced me.

"Who are you? How did you know my name? Excuse me, but I don't really know you." I told him as I quickly pulled away.

From the distance we heard a violent groan, he suddenly ran through the depths of the woods, "Aki-san, I'll tell you about it next time! Bye bye!!" he shouted as he ran. Then the groan suddenly faded away.

_Who the hell was that? Hmmmm...No idea..._

Í walked back to the tree house to see if they're already there. It was almost dark.

"I thought we're gonna meet here? What kind of stupid joke is thi--"

My eyes suddenly went dark, as if someone blindfolded me or something. Then I recognized my sister's perfume, lavender.

_"_Summer, please take your hands off my eyes. I know it's you, okay? I know your perfume." I said to her, and she backed away.

"Awwww! Why do you always recognize me!" she whined.

_Summer's my sister. She's 3 years younger than me. She also studies in the Fre'da Manor, well, all of us are, but she studies White magic. She gets along well with me and my two other friends, Rhye and Chi. She's the boyish type, and she's also the youngest. She's adventurous but she's also the scaredy-cat of the group. Ever since my mom died, my father focused his attention to her, her only...maybe because she resembles my mom. Her golden curls, her amber-colored orbs, and her pale skin, all of my mother's. Somehow, I'm jealous of her coz of that._

As I opened my eyes, flames of a small sizes became visible to my sight. _Candles. _Then I saw Rhye and Chi holding a small cake up to my face.

_Rhye is my childhood friend and also my bestfriend. Rhye is 19 and has long brunette tresses, bronze eyes, and slightly tanned skin. She's the most brave of all of us. But somehow I know she's a maskwearer. She's been trying to be strong for everyone. She doesn't let anyone in easily. _

_While Chi, the most elegant of us all, is an overindulged damsel with short silky black hair and a pair of azure orbs. She grew up in luxury, but just like me, her parents won't give her the care she always wanted to have. She's 18 now. _

"Happy Birthday, Akimi!" they all said in unison.

"We baked your favorite cake, creme brulee." Rhye said holding it nearer to my face, almost touched the tip of my nose.

I stopped and thought for a while.

"Ne, onechan, is there something wrong?" Summer asked.

"Didn't you like the cake we baked? I told you, Rhye I'm not good at baking!! This was my first time to bake! Huhu!" Chi continued in a worried tone.

"It's also my first time, Chi! It's that stupid cookbook! I should've never bought that evil thing!" Rhye answered.

"Is it my birthday today?" I suddenly asked,_ I think I lost track of time cramming._

"Duh? It's 24, remember? 24th of September? Today is the day you blow your candles, A-chan! Your 20!" Rhye reminded me.

"Whoaaaa!!! I'm too old..." I said as I felt my face, which I feared to have its wrinkles already.

They all laughed at me, can you believe that? I started laughing as well realizing how fortunate I am to have these girls.

That night, we went to Chi's quarters, and decided to sleepover.

_"_Hey, guys..You know the four men, believed to be the redeemers of this land, the ones that the elders were lecturing about in history class?" Asked Summer who was eating a gallon of ice cream at the moment.

Nobody seemed to be interested on the subject so nobody reacted, _Who would be interested in history topics anyway?_ Rhye and Chi were busy doing each other's nails and I was busy reading my history book, _I had to read it, you know? I have an exam three days from now!_, it was just about the same thing that Summer was talking about. The four gents who stopped the revival of some sort of demon. Whatever it was, it wasn't stated here, I don't care.

"hey..." Summer mumbled.

"I just remembered!!!" Rhye shrieked as she jumped from the sofa.

"Hayaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!! You ruined my nail, Rhye!!!!!!" Chi squealed.

"Ahihi! Gomene, Chi. I'll do it again later. Anyways, I was exploring the top floor of the Manor, and I checked out the attic and..."

"YOU WHAT?!?!"

"ATTIC?"

"NO WAY!!!!!"

We responded in unison.

"I checked the attic out?" she said as if not knowing that it's forbidden.

"It's against school rules to go to that area!!" I scolded her.

"Well, it's worth it, A-chan." she smirk at us as she spoke, "The rumors were true...The magic mirror that used to be a fairy-tale to me was there, covered with dust."

"Shut up!!!" Summer reacted, visibly amazed.

"Duh? Probably, it's just an old mirror, owned by some of the teachers here." Chi assumed, while applying acetone to her smudged nail-polish.

"I don't think so...It looks like it's much older than Professor Rayburn." she explained and the girls laughed, _Oh, and just to let you know, Professor Rayburn is in his 90's now, and still going strong._

"You know, the magic mirror are two mirrors that faces each other. They say you can go anywhere if you stand in the middle, if you're lucky, it only works if the moon is full. Besides, it's only a myth! The gods know what else it's capable of." I clarified.

"Whatever!! If you don't want to believe me, it's okay. If you want, you go check it out yourselves."

_It's around 1:15 a.m. already, and I really want to sleep. The day had been very long for me. So I decided to retire for the night. I stood up and left the other three chatting about that stupid mirror._

_I woke up that night from Chi's piercing and very irritating voice. _

"Aki! Wake up!! Wake up!!!!!"

"Eh? What? What happened.?" I asked, my eyes half-open, I looked at the clock, _3:45a.m!_

"Chi!! What is your problem? Wakin me up at this hour?"

"It's Rhye and Summer!!" she was jumping hysterically now.

"What about them?" still under my blanket.

"They...used...I mean, they went in...No, they were sucked in...in...the m-magic mirror, or whatever it was called!" she was crying now, really.

"What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

_To be continued...please read and review!_


	2. Chapter 2: Doorway to the Past

-------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 2 : Doorway to the Past**

**by blindangel10**

-------------------------------------------------------------

**Chi's POV**

In The Attic:

_We walked in quietly through the darkness of the room, I was a bit surprised by Aki, coz she never got up that easily. Normally, it would take about half an hour just to get her off her bed. We would even have to pull her up sometimes._

"Okay…Now where's that mirror?" she whispered as she cast a fire spell which illuminated the whole room in an instant, "We have to follow them…"

"Ehh? Nani?! You- you mean g-go in there?" I asked pointing to the dusty mirror on the far-end of the room, "There's no way you're gonna make me go in there!!"

"C'mon! Even Summie went in! You know how coward that girl is!"

"Yeah…but she only did it because Rhye dared her to…Besides…How will we know where they went? They could be anywhere in the world by now! Who knows?" I replied with a smirk, good excuse,huh?…Yeah, but not for Aki.

"Who knows? Yeah, baby! We know exactly where….and…when…" she assured, picking up something on the floor, she held it up and guess what it was? _--her history book_

"Uhmm…okay…Let's say they used that book…it doesn't make any sense. How will we know where?"

"I just know, Chi. Trust me on this, please?"

_I know I don't have a choice anymore. I don't want to do this but we have to go after Summie and Rhye, and I can't let Aki do it alone. I don't want her to be alone anymore... _

"CHI!"

"Eh?"

"Ikuyo.."

"Uh, hai!"

"Hold my hand…Don't let go whatever happens, okay?" she told me with her stupid smile.

_Everything became dark, and I felt the ground dissolving, disappearing, Aki still holding my hand…The next thing I knew we're falling…From the ebony black it changed its hue to sapphire, just then we passed a white fog, it felt really soft, but then I realized what it was. It was a cloud that we passed through just now…You've got to be kidding me………._

_Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! _

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

**Summer's POV:**

"Rhye-chan…Where are we? Are you sure we're in the right place?" I asked her.

"Shiranai…"

"Eeeeeeehhhhhhhhhh!!!! We are so dead!!!" _My sister must be really worried by now. I hope she wouldn't follow us here. sighs. We've been walking around for hours. I still don't know yet if we're in the right place. They say the mirror knows exactly where you want to go. At least, I hope that's true. _

"I'm sure they'll fetch us here. So, let's wait, okay?"

"Yada! I wouldn't stay here waiting for help, if there's a way to get in here, there must be a way to get out!" I said as I sat down, pissed off with the thought of being helpless.

"Summie, don't be mad at me,ok? I'm scared,too. You know…Besides…I thought you want to look for the 4 ojisans that were in Aki's history book?" She told me with a grin, obviously cheering me up.

"Hmph! Okay! Let's go look for them first!"

_Rhye smiled at me, she looked more beautiful when she smiles. Her smile comforted me. When Aki is not there, she's there for me, just like an older sister._

"Let's go?"

Grrrrrrrr…

"Choutou…I'm hungry…All I ate was a gallon of ice cream…"

"Hahahaha!" She laughed so hard her face went so red then she suddenly stopped, "WAh! Stupid me!! How can we buy? What will we use to pay the food we will buy?"

"This!" I handed out a couple of old crumpled bills and gold coins.

"Where did you get that?" She raised an eyebrow at me and asked, "You did not…."

"Yes, I did!!"

"That belongs to the Manor's museum, Summie! You shouldn't have stolen it."

"Well, I thought of giving it back, we're here anyway. I can pay them back."

"Fine! Let's race to restaurant!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Rhye's POV:**

It was brave of her to steal or borrow those money from the manor. Summer and I raced to the nearest restaurant we saw, but as we came close to the restaurant, "Summer, abunai!!"

**BOOM!**

_She bumped into a red-headed guy; they both knocked each other off, BIGTIME! _

"Gojyo! What are you doing?! You knocked her off!" I heard a guy said; no…I think it was a boy with golden eyes and brown hair.

"Why me?!"

"Because you just have to run in the streets with my pork bun!"

"It was mine, you monkey!!!"

**WHACK! WHACK!**

A priest with shoulder-length golden hair, and purple orbs hit them with his fan, "Look at what you did!!!"

"Gomenasai…" Another guy apologized to me. He had green gentle eyes, and brown locks.

Just then, I remembered Summer.

"Summer! Are you okay?" I quickly stood her up.

"Itai…" She was crying, maybe it really did hurt a lot.

"Are you ok?" the red-headed guy, Gojyo and the boy approached her.

"Ah! Saru!!"

Summer seemed to be a little out of shape; she just called the boy a monkey!

"Saru te yuna! Hmph!" he whined.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be continued….

Read&Review


	3. Chapter 3

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter III : Saru te yunna!!! Don't call me monkey!!**

**By blindangel10**

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Rhye's POV:**

_After calling the boy a monkey, Summer fainted again. I decided to bring her to the inn next to the restaurant. Fortunately, those guys were nice enough to help me carry her. We didn't know where we were, and they must have noticed it._

_There is only one room available, actually it's like a suite with two rooms. We don't have a choice so we decided to take it._

"What are you doing running in the streets like that?" the green-eyed gent asked, as he closed the door of the room, "Do you know that it's quite dangerous?"

"Why? I don't see anything wrong about it…" I replied as I walked around the room, "By the way…I'm Rhye…"

"Hey, sweetie…I'm Gojyo…" the red-headed guy suddenly appeared in front of me and hung his arms around my shoulders, "So, how about you and I have some "quality time" together, huh?"

"Get lost…" I said, pulling out some explosives from my sash. _I forgot to tell you, that's what I study in the Manor, it's something like chemical engineering, I make explosives and poisons._

"Maa..Maa..Hehehehe! Sumimasen for his attitude. I'm Hakkai."

"Onechan! I'm Goku!! Nice to meet you! (That poker-faced monk is Sanzo)" The boy Summer called a monkey whispered... _Well, he does look like a monkey…_

"Nani?!" _Before Goku could answer, **Whack! Whack!! **_

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

**Summer's POV:**

_The noise from outside the room woke me up. The ceiling was the first sight that greeted me. I didn't remember fainting. So I was a little surprised when I woke up here. I heard the laughter and conversation of the people outside._

"Summie, come on, sit here…You have to eat something. Hakkai-san cooked us something nice." Rhye said as she raised her right arm to call my attention.

"M'm."

_I sat down between Rhye and monk, the other two were facing me across the table. It's kinda weird. We haven't known these guys that much and yet we're here sitting in the same dining table. sighs The food seems really yummy, I remembered Rhye telling me that Hakkai-san cooked this…Who is he anyway?_

_As we ate, the red-headed guy and the monkey-boy kept on arguing over the last piece of dumpling. They look so stupid, acting childish and all. I wonder if they know the people we're looking for. What'll I do if ever we see them? Ask for an autograph? Take a picture with them? These two childish guys is really getting on my nerves. Why can't they just shut up like the other two? So, for the sake of silence, I decided to take the last of the dumplings. I grabbed it with my chopsticks and the noise faded in an instant. That's the way you do things. I saw them staring at me, the monkey boy with teary-eyes and the red-headed guy with a big question mark on his face. _

"Summer…I haven't introduced you to these guys yet. They helped me carry you since you've been eating too much ice cream lately."

"Yeah…right. Am I gaining too much weight already?"

"Yep! Yep!"

"Hmph!..."

"This is Hakkai," She said, pointing to the guy she's sitting beside, "And this is Sanzo, That's Gojyo and Goku."

"Ahh…Okay…The name's Summer…Yoroshiku"

"So, what are you doing here?" Goku asked.

"Why? Don't we have the right to be here?" I replied sarcastically.

"That's not what I meant, I mean, do you live somewhere near here?"

"I don't think they live somewhere near, Goku." Hakkai said, "They wouldn't have to hire an inn if it was so."

"So, where you from?" Goku continued to ask.

"Oh…we're from Ryda." I finally answered nicely.

"So you're visiting someone here?" Gojyo butted in.

"No, actually we're looking for 4 ojisans that saved—" Rhye suddenly covered up my mouth tightly."

"Ahehehe! We're looking for our friends…Yeah…Our friends…" She smiled to them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**PLEASE SPARE ME SOME REVIEWS! Onegai???**


	4. Chapter 4: Chi's story

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 4: Chi's story**

**By blindangel10**

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Aki's POV:**

_Everything was fucking bright. I would have thought that it was the sun that's blinding me. It is unusually vivid today…Just then, I saw a lady waving at me in the distance. Her angelic face caught my attention, even through the distance, her golden hair curled at its ends reflected the sun's rays, it was Summer. I saw her grinning at me, as she always did. 'Good! We wouldn't have the trouble looking for you', I thought._

"_Onechan…" she called._

"_Summer?"_

"_Onechan…hel……………"_

"_Summer? Is that really you? Where are you?" I groped my hand to reach for you, but I couldn't reach…Summer was beginning to fade with the brightness of the surroundings, the light seems to drown her, and I can only hear her_. _Why is it this bright anyway? This is getting a little irritating…_

"_I can hear you, Summer…I can hear you whispering so loudly in my ears..."_

"_Aki…Aki…"_

_This time it wasn't Summer anymore. A rather familiar voice, soft, distinct…I recognized it belonged to Chi. But I couldn't see her either. What's wrong with my eyes? "Where are you,guys? If I found out you're making another blastin' prank_ _on me, I'll kill you all."_

"_**Aki!!!"**_

"What the hell?!

"Whew!! I thought you were dead already!" Chi said as she wiped the sweat trickling on her forehead.

"Chi!!!!!" I jumped and gave her a big embrace.

"What's your prob? You were asleep…dreaming, maybe, and you were making stupid sounds, I thought you were having a nightmare."

"dreaming?"

Chi nodded a yes and stretched out on the grass. _I looked up and the pinkish-violet sky met my eyes. It was almost sunset when Chi woke me up. It was all a dream. But…I never had any dream like that. Yeah, I remembered going in – er – entering – uhmm…how should I put it? Whatever…you know what I'm talking about, right? I think…So, it was really a dream. I hope Summer and Rhye are fine. I wonder where they are right now. I wish I could find them as soon as possible. _

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

**Chi's POV:**

"Ne, Aki? Do you know where we are?" I asked her as she laid down the grass.

_She stood up and examined the area, the crystal-clear river, a small tree just beside it, and the woods beyond it. Everything looks familiar except for the season; it was spring when we left the Manor. It was autumn now. The small tree barely had any leaves hanging on its branches now. Everything was so calm…peaceful…lonely, just like those days... _

"_Ne, ne, Nuz, may I speak with father for a moment?" the little girl asked an old man, maybe in his 60's, wearing a tuxedo that's supposed to be uniforms for servants. Nuz, however, was a personal servant of one of the richest people in Vyerd, a larger city, beside Ryda. _

"_I'm sorry, m'lady, but your father had instructed strictly that no one should be admitted in his office unless it's a very important matter." Nuz replied to the little girl._

"_But, it's my birthday today...isn't that important enough?" _

"_Ah…well, in that case, I guess, I have no choice do I?" he smiled to the little girl as he opened the door for her._

"_Thank you, sir." She gave him a charming smile and marched in the big room._

"_Daddy!!!" she ran to him with her hands open to embrace him. _

"_What do you want?" he replied coldly, without even returning the warm embrace her daughter longed to give him._

"_What? Daddy, have you forgotten? It's my 16th birthday today! You promised you'd spend the whole day with me."_

"_Oh, I completely forgot about it!! I've arranged to meet the governor of Ryda today. And it's crucial that we talk about something." He walked to his desk and read and signed the papers as he talked._

"_But, daddy…you promised me first!" the girl insisted, following him to his table._

"_I'm sorry, dear. But I can't spend the day with you, maybe next time." He replied almost impatiently._

"_but daddy!!" _

"_I said I can't, Chi!! Isn't that hard to understand? I told you maybe another time. You're not even supposed to be here!!! I've provided you with everything you need, everything you want, right? Is it too hard to understand that my work won't wait for me, if I don't do it right, I might end up being one of the largest losers in town! I've got to keep my name clear, I can't be irresponsible now. Understand?! Now, here's a credit card, buy everything that suites you. Just leave my alone in my work. You can leave now."_

_Without saying a word, Chi ran outside holding the credit card her father forced her to hold. Her face wet with tears. As she ran outside the door, Nuz called her._

"_M'lady, happy birthda—" _

_He wasn't able to finish the sentence because Chi ran off and cried even harder. She locked herself in her room and didn't come out until the next day, when Nuz, having the key to every room of the Genjo's mansion, opened her room and found her crying in the corner._

"_M'lady…I've brought you your breakfast, your favorite I might say." He said to her, placing the tray on to the glass coffee table in the center of the room._

"_Throw it away. I don't want to eat anything, or do anything."_

"_You mustn't do that, m'lady. You'll get sick if you try to."_

"_Well, that's more I like it!!! Now, please get out and take this stupid credit card back to my so-called father!" she threw the credit card and hit Nuz in his chest, yet he made no movement._

"_M'lady. Your mother wouldn't not be very happy to see you like this." He said with his eyes to the floor._

"_Don't you dare speak of my mother! She's now dead, she's not here, and she never will be!" She shouted back, choking with sobs._

"_It's your 16th birthday yesterday, right?"_

"_Who cares about it anyway? Damn it!" _

"_Your mother…she told me to give this to you when you reached your 13th year, m'lady."_

_Her sobs suddenly stopped and looked up to Nuz. She saw a silver chain, hanging on to Nuz's right palm. At one end of it, was a pendant, a round silver pendant, although it looked more like a locket. When she opened it, a picture of her parents and her were sticking to the left side, while a watch was on the right side. _

_When she felt the locket on her own hands, she began to break down again, "I wish mom was here! Why did she have to leave me?" _

_The crying and sobbings of Chi lasted for quarter of an hour. Then, she stood up and thanked Nuz for giving her the necklace. After reassuring Nuz that she would take good care of the necklace, he took leave of her, and she decided to move out of their mansion and go to the town of Ryda, next to their city, where her cousins, Aki and Summer were living with their dad, and her father's brother._

"Those were the days…" I let out a sigh as I uttered those involuntary words.

"What?" Aki asked me, I think she heard what I said.

"Nothing…Just reminiscing memories." I replied to her, as simple as possible to get her out of the topic.

"Well…Chi, we are in the world of memories right now."


	5. Chapter 5: The Road Less Traveled

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

**Chapter 5: The Road Less Traveled**

**By blindangel10**

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's been a while since the four gals opened the doors of time and went in to alter what they might call "destiny". Rhye and Summer had finally persuaded Sanzo, of course with the help of Hakkai and the others to let them come with the Sanzo-ikkou until they have found the "friends" they've been looking for.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Summer's POV:**

"Give me that pork bun!!!" Goku yelled at my ears as he wrestled with Gojyo.

_It's been some time now, since I last saw my sister. We've persuaded Sanzo and the others to let us come with them until we can manage to continue the trip ourselves. We've been like this everyday, and today, I fell unusually silent, my brown eyes darted back and forth in observation. I was trying to indulge myself in the frenzied atmosphere._ _Day after day, everything was redundantly amusing; Goku and Gojyo must always have to entertain everyone with their fighting and all. Everyone were cool with it, except for Sanzo, they really know how to tick him off, don't they?_

Out of nowhere, demons came from all directions. It's the first time I've seen demons in an outrage. Back home, demons were living peacefully in secluded villages, some are even living with us humans.

"Sanzo! Give us the sutra if you want to live!" said the demon, who seems to be the leader.

"Another one with nothing but guts." Sighed Gojyo as he ran towards the demons and slashed them.

Our ji-pu suddenly changed into Hakuryu. (I'm used to it now.) I remember when I first saw it, I really freaked out. Hakuryu flew and settled into Hakkai's right shoulder, but immediately flew away because the fight started in an instant. They were really good out there, fighting those demons. I've never actually imagined myself in a real battle situation; I never thought studying at the Manor would do me good.

Everyone had their own share of fight, even Rhye and I; Rhye fought with her explosives while I found myself a good old bark, (a tree's bark actually). Well, I don't know how to use any weapons, white magic's my forte. I've been learning how to use a force field, Hakkai has been teaching me every now and then.

"Hakkai, behind you!" I shouted to warn him. Too late. Hakuryu suddenly, out of nowhere, appeared in front of him, suffering the plunge of the blade into his flesh yet saving Hakkai.

Goku and the others finished off the remaining demons while Hakkai and I ran to Hakuryu. He was bleeding, alright.

"That ought to be taken care of." I suggested to Hakkai as he picked up the white dragon.

Hakkai's only response was a nod. The others came running towards us and everyone gathered to check on Hakuryu. A moment later, Hakkai asked us to leave him for a moment while he mends Hakuryu's wound.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Rhye's POV:**

The warm autumn breeze blew the flowers gently as it danced along with it. Hakkai caressed Hakuryu who was now lying in his arms. Hakuryu's unconscious for the moment. Hakkai, with his head bowed, I could see the anguish in his face.

_Poor Hakuryu. That was too much for him. But it couldn't be much better, he saved Hakkai, right?He did it for him._

"Hakkai, are you alright?" I asked as he passed in front of me. He gave me a weak smile and turned back. That was cold alright.

"I guess we have to go on foot then?" Gojyo asked, and made a slight movement to get close to me but quickly moved away when I glared at him.

Sanzo nodded a yes to Gojyo and sat down under a tree. _Is Aki here, I wonder? Is she with Chi?Darn it…I miss everything back home. I wish we knew how to go home. I wish we knew where to find the oji-sans we're looking for. It's been some time since we've met Sanzo, Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku. At first, I didn't trust them, but now, I think I've learned to be more comfortable with them. Especially Hakkai, oh, that smile! OH! What the hell am I thinking?!?! (hits head with her wrists)_

"What's with you, Rhye?" Summer asked suddenly.

"What? Oh…nothing…nothing…hehehe…"

"Ok…I'll get myself some adventures in the forest, ok? I'm with Gojyo and Goku. You and Sanzo stay here until we get back. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

At this, they turned their backs and continued to walk towards the forest. And disappearing into the trees. It's almost sunset, the sky painted is painted in red and orange, red…color of blood…

Sanzo and I were left alone in the middle of the forest, waiting for the others to come back. I guess we really have to walk our way out the forest then. I walked over and sat beside Sanzo who never took his eyes off the ground, even when he took out a cigarette and lit it.

"Sanzo," I finally said, breaking the silence, well, I had no choice anyway; I don't want to stay bored.

"Yeah?" he replied, his eyes stayed focused on the ground.

"How long have you known these guys?" I asked. "Why would it matter to you?" was the reply I had received.

_He's so much like Aki when I first met her; sarcastic, arrogant, and snobbish. Those made me dislike her at first. We've been with them for a while, he's always like that. Why can't he be a lil' nicer? Maybe that's why no girl likes him. Once or twice, I saw some girls giggling over Hakkai, Gojyo or Goku, but never at him. Hmph… He's cute, yeah, you couldn't deny that…._

"Ugh…Never mind……."

_But he pisses me off…….. Big time…_

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Aki's PoV: **

_As we neared the village, no, it was much bigger than a village. Maybe a city. Yeah, I'd probably call it a city. I noticed it was standing in the middle of nowhere. I mean, I see no neighboring villages at all. It seems so quiet, it's like no one crosses this way. The city entrance was not that broad, and above it was an arch with some kind of markings, or even letters, I guess. I recognize some of it; I once saw them written in the blackboard by my history teacher. 'Maybe ancient language or somethin' I thought._

_The houses were not too far from each other, and Oh! I was so glad to see people after almost 5 hours of boredom. They were as simple as I imagined them to be. Far beyond, I could see a tall, white building and just behind it was a large tower. People here were dressed like common villagers; I can now see that my history book wasn't lying about their clothes._

_Chi was walking silently beside me, with my hands into hers. People were staring at us, and whispers and murmurs were heard through the forming crowds. Darn it! I forgot!_

"Chi!" I tightened my grip on her hand to call her attention.

"Yeah?"

"We forgot to change our clothes!" I whispered to her.

_I was still wearing my uniform. I'm so stupid!! I'm wearing a salmon pink, long-sleeved uniform. I forgot to change clothes before I slept. People these days will think I'm an alien or something like that. Apparently, Chi's clothes were more "attractive" than mine; she's wearing her favorite red long-sleeved laced, and a black tank top inside. People will think she's from a rich family from another place. At least, that's not hard to explain. _

"Who are they?"

"Have you ever seen them before?"

"They're very fair."

Chi and I continued walking, pretending not to hear the mutters of the people. People were starting to surround us. "So this is how you feel when you're a famous", I told Chi and she gave out a short laughter in response. I was about to talk to an old lady to ask for information about the city when soldiers, _or at least they look like soldiers_, came to us and asked where are we from and what were we doing here.

"We're from Ryda, sir." Chi replied.

"Ryda? Where is that? Do you know where that Ryda is?" the soldier said turning to one of his companions.

"I never heard of it, sir."

"I haven't heard of it, too. Never in my life. That doesn't matter anyway, arrest them."

"Arrest us? For what? Do we look like criminals to you?" I resisted.

"I'm very sorry, but it is not for me to answer your questions. We will take you to the chief-priestess of our city."

_At this point, we couldn't anymore struggle with them. We realized it was pointless to anyway. The soldiers put chains around our hands; I was worried about Chi, unaccustomed to this kind of treatment, she'd probably be fuming mad now. But she stayed quiet, she stayed close to me. _

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chi's POV:**

_As they attached the shackles about our hands, I compelled myself to keep my cool. I was dead-worried that they will do something to us that I just kept my mouth shut. Besides, I didn't want to be a burden to Aki. I don't want her to worry for me._

_We walked behind them with the chains connected to one of their carriages, so there's no way in hell to escape. As we walked down the road, we came to a very tranquil place. There was a fountain in the middle of the lawn and a two-story building. My eyes caught some teenagers of about 9-10 on one side, doing something like studying or something like that._

"We are here to report to the chief-priestess about these two intruders." The soldier said to the guards.

The guard looked intently at us before saying "Alright. Go ahead then."

_The soldiers left us in a big luxurious room. The wall coverings were made out of high quality papers. The paintings that hung lavishly to the walls seemed to be looking down on us, and the vases, oh, much more plushy than our mansion back home. As the servant announced the arrival of the chief-priestess, Aki and I immediately stood up awkwardly, our hands still chained, mine's almost bleeding._

_As the chief-priestess entered, I could see her silhouette behind the translucent curtain. I could see her very slim figure; her curved hips and small waist were perfectly seen through. And I thought priestesses were 50 over._

"Good day, my beloveds." She greeted as she motioned us to sit.

_She was a lady, a mere lady, not older than 25. She was very pretty. She had her golden hair tied up to the back of her head, and she wore a white silk robe and wore almost no jewelries at all, except for the ring she had on her left hand; a spiral ring with a star on the top, but she looked dazzlingly beautiful even without accessories.._

"Oh, my… I see the soldiers have chained you, here – let me help you with that – there!" she said as she removed the chains from our hands.

"Thank you, uhm.. – "

"I almost forgot to introduce myself; I'm Xisgrae, the chief-priestess of this city." She bowed graciously before us and asked more questions about where were we from, what are we doing here and how did we get here. Aki told her everything, about how we lost Rhye and Summer, of course omitting some of it, including the mirror and all.

"It's a surprise to all of us who lives here to be visited by strangers. As you may not know, we rather call our city the "road less traveled". Travelers never lose their way here, because this city is well-hidden in the midst of the Red Forest. And we never can leave this place."

"Why is that? What if there are no more supplies like food? Where do you get it? I mean, you can't leave, right?" Aki asked, interested in the matter of the city's eccentric culture.

"We have been living this way for ages. And I think it's one of the biggest secrets of our city. Uhm…It's getting late, my dears, my servant here will lead you to your quarters."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Please READ AND REVIEW. Onegaishimasu! **


End file.
